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NetWitness Platform vs Sentinel comparison

NetWitness and OpenText are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. NetWitness is ranked #22 with an average rating of 7.6, while OpenText is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.2. NetWitness holds a 0.6% mindshare in SIEM, compared to OpenText’s 3.5% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of NetWitness users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of OpenText users who would recommend it.
NetWitness Platform
Read 37 NetWitness Platform reviews
  • 1,134 Views
  • 721 Comparison Views
75% willing to recommend
Sentinel
Read 16 Sentinel reviews
  • 2,141 Views
  • 2,325 Comparison Views
81% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

NetWitness Platform and Sentinel are leading contenders in the cybersecurity market. Sentinel seems to have the upper hand due to its advanced functionality and effectiveness, which users feel justifies its pricing.

Features: NetWitness Platform offers strong analytics, real-time monitoring capabilities, and robust support services. Sentinel features integration with other Microsoft services, advanced threat detection, and seamless integration in advanced networking environments.

Room For Improvement: NetWitness Platform needs enhanced scalability, better threat intelligence capabilities, and improved customization options. Sentinel could benefit from more user-friendly setup processes, better customization options, and improved user interfaces.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetWitness Platform users find customer support highly responsive but face deployment challenges. Sentinel offers quick deployment, integrates easily into existing Microsoft infrastructures, and has adequate customer support.

Pricing and ROI: NetWitness Platform is considered expensive by some users but offers justifiable ROI due to its high performance. Sentinel, while also not cheap, is viewed as providing good value due to its extensive features and integration capabilities.

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To learn more, read our detailed NetWitness Platform vs. Sentinel Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
NetWitness Platform vs. Sentinel
April 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

NetWitness Platform
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
22nd
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (22nd)
Sentinel
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of NetWitness Platform is 0.6%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sentinel is 3.5%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

MdZaman - PeerSpot reviewer
Really scalable for enterprise customers
The solution should have more integration capabilities with different platforms. The API is nearly open and scalable, so the solution can integrate with many platforms. The solution has more than 200 log sources in the scalability to support, but this is its limit. Installation is pretty easy. However, there are a couple of modules involved, so it is not as easy as it could be. We are talking about a distributed module, not a single-module type. This is what makes things a bit complex, instead of easier. I rate it as a seven out of ten on its installation and configuration capabilities.
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JaideepSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
An automated solution that helped me detect threats in less than half the time it used to take
Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network. We also got multiple kinds of logs. By running some queries from the logs, we could find and fix the anomalies in the environment. Sentinel's threat visibility was great at telling us if we had something going on in our environment. We had to set up alerts in our environment based on the logs. If we had the right alerts set up, we got notified about threats and where security was lacking, so we could also take care of that. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped us prepare and take proactive steps for potential threats before they hit. Having preparation before a threat has helped our security operations. When I was using it, I used to keep going into my dashboards and looking for any threats on a weekly basis, or maybe two or three times a week. Based on that, we would recommend certain changes to the server and infrastructure teams to block or allow some ports. Sentinel's threat intelligence helped plan security against risks.
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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"What we are mainly using are the RSA concentrator, RSA Decoder, Archiver, Broker, and Log Decoder."
"Performance and reporting are very good."
"It gives the ability to investigate into network traffic in the Net and the organization what we couldn't do before."
"The most valuable features are its ingestion of logs and raising of alerts based on those logs."
"The most valuable feature is the hunting ability to work in a CERT."
"The most valuable features are the threat prediction and network forensics."
"It's fully scalable. There is no limit. Of course, the license limits per day the number of terabytes. In my opinion, it's very flexible."
"Incident management is its most valuable feature."
More NetWitness Platform pros
"Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network."
"The stability is phenomenal and we never had any issues with downtime or even had to restart."
"We can do advanced hunting queries and modify SQL queries to get desired results based on the rules triggering over the console."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it provides a central locking system for many event sources."
"The solution's Kusto Query Language (KQL) execution time is pretty good."
"The tool is simple to use."
"The most valuable feature is the flexible log for identifying security threats inside an application. Sentinel is very good at this."
"The native integration with out-of-the box format is hassle free and allows data to be used advantageously."
More Sentinel pros
 

Cons

"I believe that integrating the solution with other products such as Oracle would be beneficial."
"The initial setup was complex because it takes a lot of time to complete the implementation."
"Nowadays, their support is a little subpar compared to other solutions. I rate RSA support six out of 10."
"The log system is a bit complex and has room for improvement."
"The initial setup is very complex and should be simplified."
"There is no support for this product in this country, so problems have to be resolved through global technical teams."
"Sometimes, it gives me static when integrating Windows-based systems. It should produce a precise log of sorts as to where the problem is. For example, a few days ago because of the McAfee application firewall, I couldn't get access to the particular Windows machine. So, my team and I had to figure out by ourselves that there was a virus responsible for the obstacle. This solution should trigger a meaningful log or message indicating the reason the user or implementer can't get into the machine."
"The threat detection capability and centralizing and upgrading capability need to be improved. The threat alert capability needs to be improved as well because there is some lag time at present. They need to work on their database search too."
More NetWitness Platform cons
"There are still a few vendor-specific devices for which Sentinel needs to work on integration, such as Netskope devices."
"The dashboard and customer view should be improved"
"This product's connection to certain types of cloud systems could be improved. We can do Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, but there are a lot of other things happening in the cloud that we do not connect well enough to. This product could be improved with better connection to cloud-based solutions."
"I rate Sentinel a six out of ten for scalability."
"The solution does not allow outsourced authorizations."
"Creating a drag-and-drop dashboard or workbook in Sentinel is a little more complex compared to other tools like LogRhythm and IBM QRadar."
"There is no integration in the web-side of the tool."
"You need a lot of Unix scripting knowledge in order to manage the tool, which is one of the main issues that we faced."
More Sentinel cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licenses are good but the cost is very expensive."
"In comparison to other SIEM solutions such as Splunk, NetWitness is less costly."
"The NetWitness Platform may be affordable only for enterprise-level customers, as it may not be within the budget of small and medium-sized businesses."
"Compared to the competition, the is price is not that high."
"We have yearly licensing costs. The license fee can be based on the volume of EPS. Some organizations may have, as a gentlemanly gesture, 10,000 EPS and get a 3,000 EPS license but actually use 5,000 EPS."
"We have a perpetual license, so the total cost of ownership is not very expensive. It's a good investment."
"The new pricing and licensing mechanisms are fair. I would advise always to get the full solution (i.e., not only Logs)."
"We are on an annual license for the use of the solution."
More NetWitness Platform pricing and cost advice
"The solution’s pricing is aligned with its competitors."
"Sentinel is moderately priced."
"Sentinel is a subscription-based solution."
"Sentinel's slightly on the expensive side."
"We inquired about getting support from the vendor, Micro Focus, but the cost was very high."
"We receive a pricing discount because of our ongoing partnership with Micro Focus."
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Comparison Review

VS
Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
6%
Insurance Company
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about NetWitness Platform?
The product's initial setup phase was not at all difficult.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetWitness Platform?
The pricing is comparable to others, and I consider the cost to be intermediate. Specific cost details are unknown to me.
See all answers
What needs improvement with NetWitness Platform?
There is currently no need for improvement in the SIEM ( /categories/security-information-and-event-management-siem ), though there could be potential enhancements by integrating with AI.
See all answers
What do you like most about NetIQ Sentinel?
The solution lets us get all the logs properly and regularly monitor customer infrastructure.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Sentinel?
Sentinel is moderately priced.
See all answers
What needs improvement with NetIQ Sentinel?
There are still a few vendor-specific devices for which Sentinel needs to work on integration, such as Netskope devices. Also, we often face region-wise outages during operation due to product team...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Splunk Enterprise Security vs NetWitness Platform Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 28% of the time
IBM Security QRadar vs NetWitness Platform Logo
IBM Security QRadar vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 18% of the time
Elastic Security vs NetWitness Platform Logo
Elastic Security vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 14% of the time
Trellix Network Detection and Response vs NetWitness Platform Logo
Trellix Network Detection and Response vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 11% of the time
RSA enVision vs NetWitness Platform Logo
RSA enVision vs NetWitness Platform
Compared 10% of the time
More NetWitness Platform Competitors
Google Chronicle Suite vs Sentinel Logo
Google Chronicle Suite vs Sentinel
Compared 21% of the time
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Sentinel Logo
Splunk Enterprise Security vs Sentinel
Compared 20% of the time
IBM Security QRadar vs Sentinel Logo
IBM Security QRadar vs Sentinel
Compared 20% of the time
Wazuh vs Sentinel Logo
Wazuh vs Sentinel
Compared 17% of the time
Cortex XSIAM vs Sentinel Logo
Cortex XSIAM vs Sentinel
Compared 4% of the time
More Sentinel Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
NetWitness Platform
April 2025
NetWitness Platform reportDownload NetWitness Platform product report
Buyer's Guide
Sentinel
April 2025
Sentinel reportDownload Sentinel product report
 

Also Known As

RSA Security Analytics
NetIQ Sentinel, Novell SIEM
 

Overview

NetWitness Platform is an evolved SIEM and threat detection and response solution that functions as a single, unified platform for ALL your security data. It features an advanced analyst workbench for triaging alerts and incidents, and it orchestrates security operations programs end to end. In short: NetWitness Platform is all you need to run an intelligent SOC.

NetWitness

Sentinel is a full-featured Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that simplifies the deployment, management and day-to-day use of SIEM, readily adapts to dynamic enterprise environments and delivers the true "actionable intelligence" security professionals need to quickly understand their threat posture and prioritize response.

OpenText
 

Sample Customers

Los Angeles World Airports, Reply
Faysal Bank, GaVI, Handelsbanken, ISC Mªnster, Lambeth Council, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, Tukes, University of Dayton, University of the Sunshine Coast
Buyer's Guide
NetWitness Platform vs. Sentinel
April 2025
Free Report: NetWitness Platform vs. Sentinel
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We monitor all Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.